Travelers' Tales Prologue: Nemo Prime
by FederationFanboy
Summary: It was the Travels of this Nemo that created the worlds my other works take place. Please keep in mind I own none of the copyrighted works you see here. Mega crossover.
1. Awakening

Prologue: Nemo of Cold Station 2, A-001

The room was empty. The room was dark. The room was cold. Dust did not coat the silent equipment, but had there been any people in the room, they would have thought it long abandoned. The nights were clear, and Luna's uninviting craters could be seen out of the room's viewscreen each night, but the day revealed no glimmer of sunlight, instead the titanic window was filled with the awesome and wrathful swirling of dust and debris. The only movement in the room at all was the daily blinking of computer screens, scanners, and sensors.

The room was lonely. The laboratory was filled with rooms like this, each room containing a hibernating Terran scientist, and most of these were joined by their digital counterparts. The only person keeping the machines running was Rose, an AI paired with the head scientist in the lab. Unlike most other pairs, they chose to remain separate entities, but close. Rose did not make use of an Android body, as nonjoined programs usually did, but remained a stream of data that was integrated into her Terran's equipment. She alone ran experiments and tests that the group of ten scientists had proposed, but never got around to doing before they started the September protocol.

For nearly three hundred years the room stayed this way. On the fifth day of the two-hundred and ninety-sixth year some sunlight penetrated the cloud cover. The light, hour by hour, crept into the room. On the sixth minute of the eleventh hour the thin strip of light touched a cannister the size of a man. The cannister seemed to jump as the sun triggered a sensor bar. Lights blinked on. A woman's voice seemed to scream through a speaker.

"Natural light detected. Initiating environmental analysis. Life support normal. Begin waking procedure." The cannister opened itself up. Cold gases left it as hands grasped the sides, pulling up a young man. "Good morning, Nemo. Are you feeling alright? Bioscans detect normal vitals." A cup of hot coffee materialized next to the light skinned man. He adjusted his glasses and then vomited over the side of the cannister. "Dr. Torres said that nausea is a normal side effect to waking up from a Deep Sleep unit. Where are my manners? Hello, Nemo. Welcome to the future." AI's did not always order information in ways Terrans would normally speak. The man stretched and sipped his coffee.

"Hello, Rose. What protocol am I to prepare for?"

"Rehabilitation Protocol, Nemo." He sipped his coffee and viewed outside. The sun was visible, sure, but angry clouds of debris and ash still clouded his view. Rose noticed this as well, and concluded she should not have woken her partner from his hibernation.

"No offense, but I'm glad we didn't become joined. Your sensors must not be working."

"My... mistake. Forgive me, I haven't had a chance to run diagnostics on myself for the length of your sleep. I was doing all your work for you. Your need to rest gives me reason to be glad we are not joined. No offense, of course."

"Was that sarcasm?"

"That was the intended effect." the electronic entity sounded happy, or perhaps smug. "We spent our whole lives together. I picked up a few of your subtleties." a brief silence followed as Nemo finished his drink and slid his clothes on. He pressed a button on his wall, and his voice rang over the intercom.

"New Dawn Protocol, command code Nobody Six Six Alpha Nine Beta." There was no response from the other rooms. He asked his partner to send the message digitally. Silence still prevailed. "Alright, Rose. Open the doors to the rooms. I'm going in." He walked over to his stasis field belongings locker and dug through a steel box until he withdrew a green mask with tentacles springing out of it. Rose allowed the door to Dr. Mina Torres' room to open, and Nemo leaned over the Deep Sleep unit, punching in his override code. The unit sprung open, and he saw for the first time that the unit was off. The corpse of Dr. Torres stared at him with sunken eyes, and he sprang back in fear, removing the mask. "Rose... scan for biosigns in the whole facility. Be thorough."

"Nemo, my sensors do not indicate any biosigns in the lab. I'm sorry, but I don't think Rehabilitation Protocol will be possible until I've finished the artificial womb, and even then we can't raise more than-"

"Would you SHUT UP!" the voice was silent and the lights seemed dimmer. "On second thought... Rosie, tell me a joke." He sat down, holding his head in his hands as if it were going to leave if he let go. The angry clouds outside seemed less frightening now.

"Nemo, you know that won't help. You also know Rehabilitation Protocol isn't our only option." He looked up.

"If we must have this conversation, I'd like to be able to see you." A panel slid back across from him and depicted a woman's impassive face on a screen. "Better. Now, I am the last human being in the laboratory, correct?"

"Yes. But-"

"And I am the last human being on the planet, correct?"

"Yes, but-"

"And out of every single planet, moon, asteroid, satellite, space station, and ship in this solar system, I am the last living thing."

"You know that nearly a nine hundred years ago AI's like myself were legally given the same rights as people."

"That's not the point, Rose! We. Are. Alone. Not just now, but we will always be alone. And I can't live forever, but you can. You'll be all by yourself until there's no more planet Earth. And if the Bridge program survived, possibly longer. Don't you see? You were programmed with emotions. Use them."

"I shut them off The instant I read zero life. And just so you know, Bridge didn't survive. The radiation and time simply were too much for the Earth base located on Cloud One. In fact, satellite scans indicate that all atmospheric colonies lost power and impacted with the Earth's oceans, causing massive..." Nemo looked up again, tears streaming down his face, dripping onto the floor. "How much time passed?"

"Almost three hundred years. I am assuming you did not ask for a specific time measurement. Provided you still wish to measure time in the Gregorian calendar method, it is December 31st, year 442 NE. My long range scans indicate that no colony survived the synchronized attacks. I know it's hard to accept, but I'm afraid we have to begin debating the options Terra Nova Protocol allows." The tears stopped.

"Remind me of our options. I don't care how improbable they are."

"Subprotocol list accessed. First proposal: Voyager Protocol. Should I attempt to link with our subspace relays in the Oort Cloud?"

"How long until we have contact with New Voyager?"

"The New Voyager probe was sent out of our solar system five hundred years ago. It will take nearly four years for my datastream to get to it, provided it hasn't succeeded in it's mission. Keep in mind, we have no reason to believe that New Voyager was ever successful in revealing ourselves to a hypothetical intergalactic community. It may very well have been trapped at some distant star, most likely-" She was cut off. "Second proposal: Traveller Protocol."

"I thought we couldn't get the transporter working?"

"I had two hundred and ninety six years with no one to talk to but other nonjoined programs. And they shut themselves off."

"You are pretty annoying." the visual image wrinkled her nose.

"I am not. I am programmed to be predisposed to wanting to chat. Anyway, as I was trying to say, I worked on all protocols until I got bored. The cross-dimensional transporter started working half a century into my repairs. I believe I can miniaturize it to fit your wrist. You know, the science fiction cliché that is the transporter watch."

He stared at her dumbfounded. She acted so human at times that it was easy to forget she didn't quite understand how they would normally react to stimuli. He immediately got off his chair and opened the storage bin at the foot of his cannister.

"Rose, sometimes I love you. Then you start talking."

"Am I to assume you wish for me to proceed with subprotocol two?"

"Yes. And transfer any data you have to my reading pad. I have three hundred years of your work to catch up on." She smiled and the panel covered the viewscreen. He knew she wouldn't talk to him again until she was done. He started reading her initial test data. It turned out Rose had locked onto small objects in other dimensions, other universes, and brought them to the station. She had referenced them with the database in the Popular Culture of History library due to some odd familiarities and found they coincided with human imagination from the 20th and 21st centuries. He had them beamed to his section of the laboratory. The first was a book. She studied it's form and image, and after several days of comparison to all known works of fiction, she discovered it bore a striking resemblance to Spell Tomes from an early gaming series known as "The Elder Scrolls". He read a synopsis of the nine part series and was immediately interested. Studying the pattern, he found it to be some kind of a Conjuration spell. Cautiously, he opened it, and the book fell apart to ashes. But somehow, he knew what the book had said. Concentrating, he flicked his wrist and opened his palm, and moments later a spectral sword took shape. For almost ten minutes he swung the sword back and forth, toying with his new ability, and then it vanished. He felt weak.

After he regained some of his strength, he examined the second object, an octagonal green and black badge. The pattern was found to coincide with what Rose thought to be a symbol of peace from a popular television series known as "Ben 10". Again, he did his research, watching a few episodes of each season. He liked what he saw so much that he had the entire franchise downloaded into his personal datapad. He examined the badge, testing it's universal translator option and discovered it had incredibly long range communications abilities. As he watched Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, he worked with Rose to incorporate the badge into his watch so it might resemble the Omnitrix.

The third object was spherical, with a red top half and white bottom half. When he pressed the button in the middle, it quadrupled in size. A second push restored it to normal size. Rose had determined it was definitely an information containment capsule capable of holding a single organism that originated on a unique Earth copy that was home to creatures known as Pokémon. He again read a synopsis of the series, and decided he would have to catch a Pokémon known as Houndour. He was starting to make a list of places he wished to go, and he was already getting used to the loss of everyone in his star system because of the hope this project brought him.

The fourth object was a ring bearing an unusual insignia. Molecular scans indicated that it stored a massive amount of energy in the sapphire set into it. While Rose had not found a specific time period, she was certain it was a ring forged by Elves in a series of books known as The Inheritance Cycle. He read the first book, Eragon, and derived that it was a piece of jewelry signifying friendship to elvenkind. He put it on and made a note to visit the Elven nation just before the main events of the novels. He was piecing together a sort of directive, a promise not to change main storyline events. He felt he could assist with them without altering the outcome too much. The scientific studies he could conduct in alternate universes made him expand his list exponentially with 18th to 21st century AD popular culture. For some reason Rose had been unable to reach beyond that.

The fifth object she had not identified with any work of popular culture, so she had decided it originated from an alternate timeline of their own world. Chronal scans indicated 18th century origin, and other studies indicated health-enhancing nanotech. Her best guess was that it expanded the life of it's user by millenia. The nanobots repaired damaged flesh, acted as super blood cells to destroy pathogens, and even kept the user in prime physical condition. Nemo decided not to use them until later.

The final object was a small blue cube that indicated an incredible power signature. Rose identified it as an Andalite morphing cube from the 20th century series of novels titled Animorphs. It would allow it's users to transform into a copy of the DNA they chose to absorb through touch. He took half a day to read the series for any negative effects. He and Rose concluded that they would have to alter the technology slightly so that it wouldn't change any other abilities he gained in his travels. Rose even took time off her Traveler Protocol work to focus all her attention on the cube. It took the rest of day, almost fourteen hours, but they finished. They debated and debated and fought and fought but eventually they decided to create the Enhancement Protocols. Rose would decide the limits of Nemo's acquisitions and would develop a program for the watch that would warn if they were set to alter the timeline of anywhere he visited. When this was done, she allowed him to begin his enhancements.

He lay on the operating table, restrained but conscious as a robotic arm injected the nanotech into his bloodstream. Rose had continued working on the watch, and she assigned the non-sentient roaming Helper AI to perform Enhancement Protocol. Nemo was placed in a stasis chamber as the tech began to take effect. In the chamber, he grew slightly taller. His muscles began to fill out to a healthy, not huge, size. His bloodstream circulated faster and his heartbeat changed to a stronger, very regulated pump. His lungs and other organs became more efficient. Any dead brain tissue he had was revived. His synapses worked faster, and new ones were created. Within two days, he became a perfect specimen of Human evolution. It took five hours after his awakening to become used to his new body. He was not fond of the idea of removing his glasses, but Rose insisted she be allowed to remove the optical lens holding magnets from his nose. He ate more food than he should have to compensate for the rapid growth. Rose and Nemo agreed he was ready to try out the morphing cube. Rose had modified it so that his clothes wouldn't shred and so allergies wouldn't cause him to reject the DNA, even though the nanobots had removed his allergies and asthma. Finally she had found a way to compensate for the time limit of two hours.

She used the big transporter to lock onto DNA he had requested. From Tamriel, she teleported a small sample of hair from a Nord female she identified as dragonborn and a Dunmer male in good physical condition. She did insist he attempt the Dunmer first, and created a protocol for The Elder Scrolls limiting his morphs to two. He held the white hair and focused, taking the DNA strands into himself. He then focused on becoming a Dunmer, and he grew half an inch taller. His skin became grey and his ears pointed. His hair grew longer and became white. His clothing did disappear, and Rose thought it would re-emerge on his return to his normal state. Bioscans indicated slight exhaustion, but he was healthy. He felt the instinct to fight, a preference for warmer climates, and a desire to be with other elves. He quickly returned to normal and repeated the process with the Nord woman. The sensation of his private regions changing was discomforting, and he felt odder still when breasts emerged where muscle was before. His hair grew very long and a bright red, and his skin grew paler. Oddly enough, they discovered that the woman's war paint had also been acquired, three bright red scratches across her cheek. Nemo couldn't help herself and unleashed a Battlecry, which actually did frighten Rose momentarily.

"I like this form. She feels stronger than the Dunmer... Rose, what do you think my life expectancy is?" She seemed startled, but answered the question.

"I believe you may live for at least two million standard years. Most likely longer with the advancement of medical technology over time. Why do you ask?"

"I think I would like to live out multiple lifetimes instead of one. I still need to be calmed about everything. After a few test runs, I believe it would help me if I spent many years studying with the Greybeards on the Throat of the World."

"Actually, a monastery does seem ideal. You can live out the life of a Nord studying the Voice, and maybe you'll learn some patience." Nemo laughed. "Yes, I think that's what I'll do. I'll stay in this form until we leave, I need getting used to it. And Rose?"

"Yes, Nemo?"

"Could I please have some clothes?"

The following day, no light reached the laboratory. There was still hope, however. Nemo had replicated sets of clothes appropriate to travelling in Tamriel, specifically Skyrim in the third and fourth Era and actually enjoyed how the light Imperial leather armor was both comfortable and functional. She had also insisted on playing Skyrim on the datapad, and used it as a guide for her things. She had the garments and artifacts teleported directly from her game. She crafted a set of Imperial leather armor, and forged twin Elven war axes and matching daggers. Her axes and leather shield fit together on her back, the axes crossed over the shield. Her daggers fit into her boots. She had also crafted a matching set of heavy Imperial armor and stored it on a mannequin in her quarters in the lab. She wore a pouch at her belt that contained her Pokeball and would carry anything else she might need. Her watch, while not yet complete, had been given a voice-activated cloaking ability. She had crafted helmets, but preferred not to wear them, and had forged a gold and sapphire circlet that matched her elf-friend ring. She had also purchased a set of fine clothes and looted a necklace to go with her ring and circlet. She learned Dova very quickly, and without the UT had learned the dragon language in it's entirety, though could not Shout yet. She learned Healing Hands, Ice Spike, Rally, Ironflesh, and Candlelight, and Rose would not allow the learning of any more spells. She felt ready to go to Skyrim, to leave this empty place behind, but Rose wasn't finished. There were tests to run.

They decided that the Pokémon world was safe enough to travel to, and Nemo stepped on the big transporter, Rose contained in an earpiece. Nemo had dressed in black skinny jeans, a black blouse, and a skull and crossbones hat with one black and one white wristband. She couldn't very well wear a suit of armor to a world well beyond medieval practices. Rose locked herself into an earpiece and went with Nemo while the watch construction was being worked on by the regular AI. They vanished a flash of bright white light, and in almost no time found themselves in a dark forest.


	2. Companion

Pokémon World: Gotta Catch 'Em All

"Before you ask, I locked onto the Johto Region in Houndour territory. You actually just missed Ash Ketchum and his party by three hours. Yes, we're in the anime, not the game." Nemo just blinked and adjusted a wristband. She was wearing her hair in a ponytail, and her bright red hair starkly contrasted with her dark black beanie and pale skin. "I detect several biosigns. It seems forests are filled with all sorts of Pokémon. Including Houndour and Houndoom. Please try to remember that they seem to be sentient if not sapient; you could probably reason with them."

"Got it."

"Hey, Miss! Don't you know it's dangerous to travel alone out here?" a female voice called out to her. Further down the path walking towards her was Officer Jenny, or at least one of them.

"You're right. I was just hoping to find a town before nightfall. Could you escort me?" Jenny seemed delighted, her eyes lighting up as she agreed. "Thank you. I'm not used to traveling at all, I only just left home a week ago."

"Well you should probably catch a Pokémon soon. Usually you get one when you set out on your Pokémon journey; I'm surprised you left without a companion. Please, follow me." they began walking, Nemo reaching into her black drawstring bag.

"I have a Pokéball, but I was raised in a rural area. I didn't have anyone to give me a Pokémon. I was hoping to catch one out here when I got lost." Rose beeped and quietly warned her to stop making up backstories.

"Well you're lucky I found you first. You weren't far off from a notorious wild Houndour pack."

"I was actually hoping to find a Houndour. I've always been fascinated with dog Pokémon, and Houndour was always, always, always my favorite. My mom had one when she started her Journey."

"I'm sure you'll find one before we leave the forest. It's a long walk back to town. I'm only out here for my daily exercises." It dawned on Nemo that it was getting lighter, and not darker. It was early morning. "I'll help you out, but you can't take it if it doesn't want to be captured." The bushes rustled. A few Oddish ran out in front of them. Beedrill and Butterfree flew overhead while Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, and Kakuna were on the trees. Nemo picked up a fallen Metapod and placed it back on it's tree.

"Thank you very much." Nemo's Plumber's badge was in her bag, and the universal translator apparently worked on Pokemon. Officer Jenny didn't hear anything but "Meta. Metapod."

"You're welcome, Metapod! Do you know if any Houndour are nearby?"

"I saw one pass by a few minutes ago. He was limping."

"Thank you! Goodbye Metapod!"

"Metapod!" Officer Jenny looked at Nemo with a smile.

"You understand Pokémon very well, don't you!"

"Yes, I've always felt comfortable with them. He thinks a Houndour is hurt around here somewhere."

"We should find it before something else does." They started running in the direction Metapod indicated and found a Houndour leaning against a tree licking it's paw. He growled at their approach. "Nemo, please be careful. It looks angry." Nemo ignored her.

"Hi there, Houndour." she crept closer, on her knees, one hand extended. he still growled, but she could understand him when he barked.

"Go away!" she stopped approaching, but kept her hand out. She took some bread out of her bag and held it out to him. He snapped at it hungrily and allowed her to come a little closer.

"That thorn looks nasty. If you let me look at it, I can help you."

"No. I'm fine! Go away!" Houndour soon passed out from the pain, feinted spontaneously. Nemo picked him up and carried him the five miles to town, and rushed him into the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy immediately took him into the back. She removed the thorn and applied a Potion for the wound.

A few hours later, Houndour woke up on an operating table. Chansey and Nemo looked down at him happily. Nemo handed him a strip of meat. He wagged his tail as she rubbed his head.

"Who are you, Nice Lady?"

"My name is Nemo. See, I didn't want to hurt you. Would you like to go back to the forest now? Nurse Joy says you're all fixed up!"

"Are you going to the forest?"

"No. I'm staying in town for awhile. I can walk back with you."

"No. I'm staying here. But only with you."

"Are you saying you want to be my Pokémon?"

"Yes. I will be your Pokémon. You helped me and now I will protect you." She called him into her pokeball, thanked Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny, and returned to her homeworld discreetly.

"Okay. That was too weird. Way too weird. Can you take Pokémon language out of the UT function?" Rose obliged. Nemo called Houndour out. "Hi Houndour! This is my home. Do you like it?" Houndour responded by saying his name and laying down at Nemo's feet. "I'll take that as a yes. Rose, how is the watch coming along?"

"Transporter is ready, but I haven't put it online yet. I finished the Plumber's Badge mode, timeline warning mode, and as soon as I'm done with the cloak we can test it out. Nemo, why don't you call it a night?"

"It's three in the afternoon."

"Doesn't change the fact that you spend over twenty hours running around the Pokémon universe."

"Point taken. See you tomorrow!" Nemo went to her room and Houndour followed. She locked out Rose and went to the bed. She wrapped herself in a blanket and slept deeply, dreaming of future adventures. Houndour slept at the foot of the bed.


	3. Homeland

Skyrim: Nemo Prime Joins Her Brothers

"We quite literally arrived at the beginning of the game. Welcome to the Empire, Nemo."

"Is there a reason you didn't bring me to my destination?"

"Because it's funny."

"Oh, shut up Rose.

"Guess where we are?" Nemo looked around, realizing they were next to a standing stone. She inspected the inscriptions.

"The shadow stone... is there a reason you put me in the one place invisible people spring from?"

"Yes, actually. Activate it." Nemo placed her hand on the stone and sprang back in surprise when the lights from it enveloped her. She inspected her hands, and upon the realization that she was not, in fact, invisible, she cast the watch a furtive look.

"What? Why isn't this working?"

"I have a direct lock with your abilities. If I feel like you are already too powerful for your own good, I can prevent you from using a spell like Invisibility. You already acquired five spells, ones I specifically allowed."

"Yes, I was there. I suppose this all some plot of yours to determine if I can be trusted with the powers granted a Dragonborn in the game."

"That, and what's the point of having an indefinite life if you won't explore? Come on, we need to get you to Riften." Nemo looked around, keeping a watch for enemies. "Oh, I suggest you change out of that armor. Riften is Stormcloak, not Imperial."

"I can't just walk around in a set of Fine Clothes!"

"Then don't. We are in a fantasy world crawling with a ridiculously large population of expendables. By the way, we're in a timeline with an Altmer dragonborn. You won't be able to absorb dragon souls; everything you learn will be from the Greybeards." Suddenly a red blip appeared on the watchface. Nemo drew her twin axes and spun around, while Rose activated the watch's cloak. She looked in all directions, but couldn't make out an enemy. Again, it occurred to her where exactly she was. Pretending like she didn't know anything, she calmly walked in the direction of Riften, while switching one of her axes for her shield. It wasn't too far of a walk before an Orc in Iron Armor approached her. Oddly enough, she found herself unable to move or respond until he was done talking.

"You should know it's not safe for pretty girls like you to walk all alone out here. Even one with a nice set of armor like that." He was holding a Greatsword, presumably also forged of iron. Nemo didn't lower her guard for even a split second.

"What makes you think I'm alone?" He laughed and gripped the sword tightly.

"I know you're alone. And I also think you're going to pay me twenty septims to pass."

"Twenty Septims seems too steep a price." He looked over her twice, and then lowered his sword slightly.

"You could always pay me another way."

"You're right. Like this!" She swung the ax as hard as she could, and it dented his chestplate. He staggered backwards, so she took the opportunity to swing again, catching him on his unguarded arm. He wasn't quite dead, so she smashed his face with her shield. She moved her axes to her belt, and put his greatsword over her back. She soon had the corpse emptied. She put thirty septims into her pouch, and placed a garnet ring on her finger to the left of her elf-friend ring. He had a bottle of Skooma, and she took that as well, but left the iron dagger he carried off to the side for the next passerby. Rose transported her Imperial Light Armor to what she called "the closet dimension", and a very self-conscious Nemo donned the Iron Armor very quickly. The armor and boots fit very well, but she left his hide gloves behind. She did feel a bit exposed leaving her arms open to attack, but was confident she could defend them. gripping her shield in her left hand, she continued on towards Riften. Not five minutes later a pair of wolves attacked. She swiftly bashed in their skulls with the handle of her ax, and in a few more minutes she had two perfectly fine wolf pelts that she carried over her shoulder. It wasn't long after that she caught sight of the walls surrounding Riften. She considered stopping at the stables, but instead walked straight to the gate. The guards caught sight of her circlet and necklace and rings, and stepped in front of the giant doors.

"Halt. There's a tax to enter the city. Two hundred Septims."

"How about I don't pay your tax and no one finds out this is a scam?" He hurriedly opened the gate to let her in. Nemo smiled to herself, walking towards the Bee and Barb. The sun was just beginning to set. Brynjolf was waiting for her. Before he could even speak, Nemo knew what to say before words came out of him.

"No, I'm not a thief. You may want to consider teaching your guard about proper extortion. No, I won't do your job just yet, but yes I will meet you in the Bee and Barb tomorrow to discuss matters of business. Good day to you." Now it was Brynjolf who stared in bewilderment as Nemo walked away. She didn't look back once, and entered the Bee and Barb with a smug grin on her face. She bought a room for the night, a meal, and two bottles of Black-Briar wine. She mingled and laughed, and the patrons liked her. She went to sleep, ignoring Rose's protests about talking too much. That night, she dreamed of dragons.


End file.
